Women try for third straight road win

After winning two consecutive Pacific 10 Conference road games for the first time in more than a year, the Arizona women's basketball team will try tonight to make it three in a row by doing something no other Pac-10 team could - beat the Stanford Cardinal.

No. 3 Stanford (18-1 overall, 8-0 Pac-10) proved to be dominant among Pac-10 competition last week, running over Washington State (104-57) and Washington (75-67). The Cardinal have won their last 10 straight games.

But Arizona (9-9 overall, 5-4 Pac-10) brings a streak of its own into Maples Pavilion - two consecutive road wins over UCLA and Southern California, something UA had not accomplished in more than four years.

"Those wins were huge," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "Anytime you play a team on their home court, you have to have players who will step up to that challenge and I thought we answered that. I was really proud of our team."

One of Arizona's primary concerns will be stopping Stanford's hot three-point shooting, spearheaded by senior guard Lindsey Yamasaki, who leads the Cardinal in scoring with 16 points per game.

"We know we have to cover the 3-pointers," junior forward Krista Warren said. "We need to be a lot more physical in this game than we have been."

UA defenders will have to body up sophomore forward Nicole Powell, who not only is leading the team in rebounding at 10.1 per game, but is also second in scoring with 15.4 points per game.

"We have to watch out for their shooters," sophomore guard Aimee Grzyb said. "They have height and we have to put pressure on them and block out."

The Wildcats wrap up their four-game road swing Saturday, when they face a California team that has struggled in conference play this season.

The Golden Bears (6-11 overall, 1-7 Pac-10) had their first conference victory last weekend when they split a pair of games in Washington.

Cal defeated Washington State 62-50 but was blown away by Washington, 85-46.

Senior forward Ami Forney is leading the Golden Bears in both rebounds and points.

Forney is averaging 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

In Arizona's recent success, it has been the play of Warren and Grzyb that have carried the Wildcats.

In UA's wins in Los Angeles, Grzyb scored a career-high 19 points against UCLA and 15 points against USC.

Warren posted a double-double against the Bruins, scoring 15 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

"Krista has been great. She's the blue-collar warrior, getting double-doubles, and I feel good about (her)," Bonvicini said.

Arizona is proving to be a different team of late, winning four of their last five games.

"We've improved tremendously and are playing with a lot more confidence," Bonvicini said. "Our backs are against the wall and now coming down to the second round of conference play. It's going to be the team that wants it the most."

Tip-off for both games is at 6 p.m.